{Read} {PDF EPUB} ~download Lamikorda by D.R. Merrill Alien language in science fiction. A formal description of an alien language in science fiction may have been pioneered by Percy Greg's Martian language (he called it "Martial") in his 1880 novel Across the Zodiac , [1] although already the 17th century book The Man in the Moone describes the language of the Lunars, consisting "not so much of words and letters as tunes and strange sounds", which is in turn predated by other invented languages in fictional societies, e.g., in Thomas More's Utopia . Contents. Understanding alien languages Bypassing the issue of language Universal translators Universal language Telepathy References External links. Understanding alien languages. As the science fiction genre developed, so did the use of the literary trope of alien languages. Some science-fiction works operate on the premise that alien languages can be easily learned if one has a competent understanding of the nature of languages in general. For example, the protagonist of C. S. Lewis's novel Out of the Silent Planet is able to use his training in historical linguistics to decipher the language spoken on Mars. Others work on the premise that languages with similarities can be partially understood by different species or could not understood at all. Stanislaw Lem's novel His Master's Voice describes an effort by scientists to decode, translate and understand an extraterrestrial transmission. The novel critically approaches humanity's intelligence and intentions in deciphering and truly comprehending a message from outer space. The 2014 novel Lamikorda by D. R. Merrill not only deals with differences in verbal communication, but gestures and other "body language", pointing out the inextricability of language with cultural and social norms. [2] A number of long-running franchises have taken the concept of an alien language beyond that of a scripting device and have developed languages of their own. Examples include the Klingon language of the Star Trek universe (a fully developed constructed language created by Marc Okrand) The Zentradi language from the Macross Japanese science-fiction anime series The DC Comics, Kryptonese (for which there exists an alphabet and language glossary) For his 2009 science fiction film Avatar , creator and director James Cameron constructed the fictional Na'vi language (with the aid of college professor Paul Frommer) for his fictional alien Na'vi race in the film. The existence of alien languages and the ease or difficulty of translation is used as a plot device or script element in a number of franchises, sometimes seriously, and sometimes for comedic value. In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , the crew is forced to speak (broken) Klingon without the universal translator. In the film Mars Attacks! , the language spoken by the Martians appears to consist only of the words "ack!" and "rack!" spoken at different pitches and volume. The film's universal translator consistently translates these as being offers of friendship despite the fact that the aliens' actions are anything but friendly. In the Babylon 5 episode "Into the Fire", Commander Susan Ivanova gives orders to a Minbari crew in their language, and exclaims "Ah Hell!" in frustration, inadvertently giving the command "continuous fire" in Minbari. This is identical phonetically to ahel , which means 'continuous fire' in Minbari. In Dragon Ball Z , Bulma speaks in her usual language (Japanese) and thereby involuntarily activates some functions of an alien starship, as her words are identified by the ship's computer as Namekkian orders. C. J. Cherryh's Chanur series of books relies heavily on linguistic and psychological problems of communication between various alien races. Some examples include usage of obscure languages and cultural references to conceal information from others, imperfections of computer translation, use of pidgin and linguistic barriers, psychological concepts which do not have matches in other races' languages, and a race so alien that it cannot be understood at all without a translation by another race which itself can barely be understood due to manifold meanings in each message. In the Foreigner universe, Cherryh explores the interface between humans and Atevi, whose language relies on numerical values, causing the main character, Bren Cameron, to constantly calculate as he speaks the Atevi language, Ragi . Conversely, in The Simpsons , the fact that English is mutually understood by the show's human and alien characters is noted as being "an astonishing coincidence". [3] Some stories, however, have alien beings speak near-unpronounceable tongues. Clark Ashton Smith, in one tale, has the sorcerer Eibon struggle to articulate the name of an alien, Hziulquoigmnzhah. In Mary Doria Russell's philosophical/sci-fi novel The Sparrow , a linguist who travels to an alien planet as part of a Jesuit mission discovers a language with unique and (at first) incomprehensible tenses and conjugations. In Carl Sagan's novel Contact (and the subsequent film adaptation), a broadcast from an extraterrestrial source is discovered to contain multiple layers of encrypted messages. Ted Chiang's short story "Story of Your Life" describes attempts to communicate with a technologically advanced alien species that has no apparent understanding of basic mathematics and physics. Sheila Finch published a collection of short stories about first contact and alien communication, The Guild of Xenolinguists (Golden Gryphon Press), in 2007. In 2008, the game Dead Space introduced a form of alien language known as Unitology, for the religion that mainly uses it. Unitology is only shown to be written with no example or indication of a verbal dialect. In Futurama , a language exists called Alienese, which originates from an unspecified extraterrestrial source. At least one character has achieved an academic degree in xenolinguistics, which gives her the apparently rare skill of knowing how to translate between English and Alienese. In the 2016 science-fiction movie, Arrival , a linguist is tasked by the U.S. Army to try and understand an alien language of complex symbols. The film received significant media attention for its unique and detailed portrayal of what human communication with aliens might resemble. [4] Various works from the Cthulhu mythos of H.P. Lovecraft present short sentences, excerpts and text fragments in the language of the Old Gods, referred to as "R'lyehian" or "Cthuvian" by the fan base. Lovecraft provided translations for some of the texts and denoted Cthuvian as a thick, guttural language, but he never published any details on pronunciation and grammar, so it is not possible to communicate in Cthuvian. Based on the limited text resources, only few grammatical rules and vocabulary could be worked out by fans, which are mostly guesswork. There is no evidence that Lovecraft even had a concept for the structure of the language when writing it. Robert Sheckley's novelette "Shall We Have a Little Talk?" describes a language that mutates so drastically and so frequently that it completely defeats an attempt of an Earth emissary, a professional intuitive linguist, to arrange a "peaceful" takeover of the planet: to buy some property, then to bring troops to protect the property, etc. But the first step is to learn the alien language in order to write ironclad contracts, which turns out to be impossible: the language changes faster than the Earthling can learn it. Bypassing the issue of language. Universal translators. In some cases, authors avoid linguistic questions by introducing devices into their stories that seamlessly translate between languages, to the point that the concept of different languages can largely be excluded from the narrative. Notable examples include: Douglas Adams's babel fish The TARDIS from Doctor Who The translator microbes in Farscape The universal translator from Star Trek. Universal language. In some cases, the question of language is dealt with through the introduction of a universal language via which most, if not all, of the franchise's species are able to communicate. In the Star Wars universe, for example, this language is known as Basic and is spoken by the majority of the characters, with a few notable exceptions. Other alien species take advantage of their unique physiology for communication purposes, an example being the Ithorians, who use their twin mouths, located on either side of their neck, to speak in stereo. In some franchises this universal language is an intermediary language; one that different species can easily translate to and from their own languages, thus allowing simple communication between races. Examples of this approach include Interlac from the Legion of Super-Heroes, Babylon 5, and the Uplift Universe, where numerous sapient species use at least twelve "Galactic" languages (each version is used in communication between species that can articulate it, and that find it useful in expressing their concepts). Not all of these universal/intermediate languages take the form of spoken/written languages as is recognized in the human world. In the film and book Close Encounters of the Third Kind scientists use Solresol, a language based on musical tones, while in the film and book Contact , aliens send the instructions to build a machine to reach them using mathematics, which the main character calls "the only universal language". Similarly, in Stargate SG-1 , the protagonists encounter a galactic meeting place where different races communicate with one another using a language based on atomic structures which is "written" in three dimensions rather than two. Telepathy. Some science fiction stories imagine communication through telepathy. There is for example the Vulcan mind meld in Star Trek. In the novel Ender's Game , the "Buggers" are an alien species in which their queen can telepathically communicate with every member of her species, but no humans except Ender. The inability of the two species to effectively communicate serves as a critical element of the novel's plot. Related Research Articles. Fictional languages are a subset of constructed languages, and are distinct from the former in that they have been created as part of a fictional setting. Typically they are the creation of one individual, while natural languages evolve out of a particular culture or people group. Fictional languages are also distinct from natural languages in that the former do not have native speakers. Hoshi Sato , played by Korean American actress Linda Park, is a fictional character in the science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise . The Star Wars science fiction universe, created by George Lucas, features dialogue that is not spoken in natural languages. The lingua franca of the franchise, for which the language the words are dubbed or written in, is Galactic Basic. Characters often speak languages other than Basic, notably Shyriiwook spoken by Chewbacca, droidspeak spoken by R2-D2 and BB-8, Ewokese spoken by ewoks and Huttese spoken by Jabba the Hutt. The alien invasion or space invasion is a common feature in science fiction stories and film, in which extraterrestrials invade the Earth either to exterminate and supplant human life, enslave it under an intense state, harvest people for food, steal the planet's resources, or destroy the planet altogether. Extraterrestrial intelligence refers to hypothetical intelligent extraterrestrial life. The question of whether other inhabited worlds might exist has been debated since ancient times. The modern form of the concept emerged when the Copernican Revolution demonstrated that the Earth was a planet revolving around the Sun, and other planets were conversely, other worlds. The question of whether other inhabited planets or moons exist was a natural consequence of this new understanding. It has become one of the most speculative questions in science and is a central theme of science fiction and popular culture. A universal translator is a device common to many science fiction works, especially on television. First described in Murray Leinster's 1945 novella "First Contact", the translator's purpose is to offer an instant translation of any language. " Darmok " is the 102nd episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation , the second episode of the fifth season. The Voyage of the Space Beagle (1950) is a science fiction novel by Canadian-American writer A. E. van Vogt. An example of space opera subgenre, the novel is a "fix-up" compilation of four previously published stories: Xenoarchaeology , a branch of xenology dealing with extraterrestrial cultures, is a hypothetical form of archaeology that exists mainly in works of science fiction. The field is concerned with the study of material remains to reconstruct and interpret past life-ways of alien civilizations. Xenoarchaeology is not currently practiced by mainstream archaeologists due to the current lack of any material for the discipline to study. Communication with extraterrestrial intelligence or CETI , is a branch of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence that focuses on composing and deciphering interstellar messages that theoretically could be understood by another technological civilization. The best-known CETI experiment of its kind was the 1974 Arecibo message composed by Frank Drake. Alien languages , i.e. languages of extraterrestrial beings, are a hypothetical subject since none have been encountered so far. The research in these hypothetical languages is variously called exolinguistics , xenolinguistics or astrolinguistics. The question of what form alien languages might take and the possibility for humans to recognize and translate them has been part of the linguistics and language studies courses, e.g., at the Bowling Green State University (2001). An extraterrestrial or alien is any extraterrestrial lifeform; a lifeform that did not originate on Earth. The word extraterrestrial means "outside Earth". The first published use of extraterrestrial as a noun occurred in 1956, during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. First contact is a common science fiction theme about the first meeting between humans and extraterrestrial life, or of any sentient species' first encounter with another one, given they are from different planets or natural satellites. The theme allows writers to explore such topics such as xenophobia, transcendentalism, and basic linguistics by adapting the anthropological topic of first contact to extraterrestrial cultures. The Body Snatchers is a science fiction novel by American writer Jack Finney, originally serialized in Collier's magazine in November–December 1954 and published in book form the following year. Native Tongue is a feminist science fiction novel by American writer Suzette Haden Elgin, the first book in her series of the same name. The trilogy is centered in a future dystopian American society where the 19th Amendment was repealed in 1991 and women have been stripped of civil rights. A group of women, part of a worldwide group of linguists who facilitate human communication with alien races, create a new language for women as an act of resistance. Elgin created that language, Láadan, and instructional materials are available. " First Contact " is a 1945 science fiction novelette by American writer Murray Leinster, credited as one of the first instances of a universal translator in science fiction. It won a retro Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 1996. Ancient astronauts have been addressed frequently in science fiction and horror fiction. Occurrences in the genres include: An experimental language is a constructed language designed for linguistics research, often on the relationship between language and thought. Parasites appear frequently in biology-inspired fiction from ancient times onwards, with a flowering in the nineteenth century. These include intentionally disgusting alien monsters in science fiction films, often with analogues in nature. Authors and scriptwriters have to some extent exploited parasite biology: lifestyles including parasitoid, behaviour-altering parasite, brood parasite, parasitic castrator, and many forms of vampire are found in books and films. Some fictional parasites, like Count Dracula and Alien' s Xenomorphs, have become well known in their own right. Linguistics has an intrinsic connection to Science Fiction stories given the nature of science fiction. As mentioned in Aliens and Linguists: Language Study and Science Fiction by Walter E. Meyers, science fiction is almost always concerned with the idea of communication, such as communication with aliens and machines, or communication using dead languages and evolved languages of the future. Authors of science fiction at times use Linguistics and Linguistic theories as a tool for storytelling, although technical terms are rarely used with authors only going into as much detail as the reader will understand. About this site. The Alplai have lived in peace and prosperity for centuries, spreading beyond their homeworld’s single continent into floating cities on its vast oceans, and colonizing the planets and moons of their solar system. Now, a massive alien vessel has come, carrying over a million colonists in cryogenic stasis from a devastated world. Ganak, the recently appointed Commissioner for Space Exploration, advocates that the Terai be allowed to settle in the newly prepared Eastern Sector of the planet Totrana. The proposal is approved, and the avian-descended Alplai work with this strange mammalian species to help them build a new home. But not all the Alplai welcome these creatures. Many are concerned about their warlike past, and when a new disease erupts on Totrana, the aliens are quickly blamed. Despite their contributions, the Terai face discrimination and harassment. How far can Ganak use his influence to help, and what leaders will emerge amongst them as they strive to build a new life? More to come … Meanwhile, visit the sibling website for the novel’s constructed languages HERE. Kiitra language. The Kiitra language ( hirajna Kiitra ) is a constructed language featured in the science fiction novel Lamikorda by D. R. Merrill. Kiitra is the principal language of the Alplai, the avianoid species in the book. With a lexicon of over 3700 entries including colloquialisms and highly technical terminology, it is perhaps one of the largest and most functional of recent conlangs. [1] Contents. Origins. Merrill created Kiitra while writing Lamikorda "to give greater verisimilitude to the novel," but also with the hope that others would "study, utilize, and even offer suggestions as to its continued development", [2] and has continued to expand its lexicon. [3] The fictional backstory was that the Kiitra region of the planet Alplaa was inhabited by eight ethnolinguistic groups allied in a confederation; when the confederation government formed a commission to recommend how to deal with this multilingualism, the commission drew upon common elements of these closely related languages to construct a new Kiitra language. While intended for use in trade and government administration within the Kiitra Union, it would become the primary language of the region, as the different ethnicities melded into a common "Kiitra" identity. Because of its relative simplicity and regularity, other Alplai chose to make Kiitra their default auxiliary language, much like the similar role of English on Earth. The fiction of Kiitra being constructed and regulated by an appointed government commission provides a rationale for Kiitra’s relatively regular structure. Phonology. Merrill devised a highly regular phonology for Kiitra, with both its own orthography (including punctuation) and a simple Romanization standard. Vowels. Kiitra uses eight vowels and two dipthongs: a as in A lpha = /æ/ aa as in Sp a = /ä/ or /ɑ/ ai as in Eye = /aɪ/ e as in E cho = /ɛ/ ei as in R ay = /eɪ/ i as in I ndia = /ɪ/ ii as in Ind i a = /i/ o as in O scar = /ɔ/ or /ɒ/ u as in U ncle = /ʌ/ uu as in R oo m = /u/ With the exception of the ai and ei dipthongs, vowels are never "blended"; they are separated either by consonants or a glottal stop. Two of the trickiest elements of pronunciation is when words end with a single a or o , as English speakers will tend to say these like "ah" and "oh" respectively. In the novel’s "Preface on pronouncing Kiitra" the author recommends: For a at the end of words: "say with mouth open and lips pulled back." For o at the end of words: "keep lips rounded and jaw still." Consonants. Kiitra employs nineteen consonants and a glottal stop marker; Alplai linguistics, however, regard the "h" sound and glottal stop as a distinct intermediary category, called leidvona in Kiitra. b as in B ravo = /b/ d as in D elta = /d/ f as in F oxtrot = /f/ g as in G olf = /g/ h as in H otel = /h/ j as in J uliet = /d͡ ʒ/ or /ʒ/ k as in K ilo = /k/ kh as in Lo ch or Na ch t = /x/ l as in L ima = /l/ or /ɫ/ m as in M ike = /m/ n as in N ovember = /n/ p as in P apa = /p/| r as in R omeo = /ɹ/ or /ɾ/ rh = trilled "r" = /r/ or /ʀ/ s as in S ierra = /s/ sh as in Sh are = /ʃ/ t as in T ango = /t/ v as in V ictor = /v/ z as in Z ulu = /z/ ‘ = glottal stop = /ʔ/ Notable by their absence is the w consonant, the /tʃ/ sound represented by the English digraph ch , and the two dental fricatives both represented in English by th . In the novel, this leads to the Alplai making approximations of these sounds when attempting to speak English (the principal "Terai" language), such as ii’uu for w . Stress and cadence. Syllabic stress is variable in Kiitra, and is the primary feature distinguishing various dialects and accents. It is thus left to particular groups of speakers to employ whatever cadence feels natural to them. As human instructors of Kiitra in Lamikorda would say: "Don’t stress about stresses!" Grammar. Kiitra grammar follows a basic subject-verb-object typology. Additionally, many words may serve multiple functions – nouns, adjectives, and/or adverbs – thus making word order extremely important; adjectival modifiers, for example, precede the subject of a noun (e.g., vroza adra vrokajiit = "quick he run[past]" = "he ran quickly"). The morphology of Kiitra is highly agglutinative, with adjectival modifiers typically prefixed to a root noun. There are exceptions, however: Numbers and quantifying adjectives precede the noun as a separate word. Ethnic, geographic, linguistic and/or religious descriptors, as well as possessive pronouns, follow the noun as a separate word. There are also instances of rather long agglutinative constructions being shortened into more easily pronounceable forms (e.g., the word for a portable videophone or "smartphone" evolving from orpabejafaaz to orbefaaz ). Verbs. Verbs follow simple and regular rules: Past tense is indicated by adding the suffix -iit . Future tense is indicated by adding the suffix -iis . All verbs end in consonants, both to facilitate addition of temporal tense suffices, and to distinguish them from "descriptor" (noun/adjective/adverb) forms (e.g., kaaj [to move], kaja [motion, movement, moving]). Aspect, mood and evidentiality for verbs is indicated via modal auxiliaries, as in many Germanic languages. The verb g’boz (to have, to possess) is a frequent copula verb when use to describe emotions and other attributes; thus the English sentence "she is happy" would more literally translate as "she has/possesses happiness/pleasure" ( avra g’boz nonsha ). Similar forms exist using such basic verbs as giron (to bring about, to cause, to make happen), kher (to do), ren (to get, receive something given), and ton (to give). Pronouns. Some features of Kiitra personal pronouns include: No distinction between subjective and objective forms. Use of the suffix -luu to create possessive pronoun forms. A gender-blind/gender-neutral third-person singular form. The evolution of formal forms, as Kiitra and Alplai society became more egalitarian, to becoming used only in reference to deities or as a respectful reference to someone deceased. Interrogatives. Interrogative words typically begin with f’t- ; their non-interrogative forms replace f with p . Polar questions are created by placing the interrogative particle f’taa in front of a declarative sentence: inra hoshiis drof Marif = we will be traveling to Marif f’taa inra hoshiis drof Marif? = will we be travling to Marif? F’taa? by itself serves the same function as "Huh?" in English, and when combined with the Kiitra word for "please" ( f’taa miirvan? ) is equivalent to saying "Pardon?" or "Come again?" in reaction to something not clearly heard or understood. Affirmative/negative. Kiitra uses a multi-form system for saying yes and no, dependent primarily on strength of certainty: Generic forms include: shaa for yes in response to a positive question sheina for yes in response to a negative question naa for no in response to any question shasha for the affirmative; also used as an intensifier, like "very" in English neija for the negative shipaa for the affirmative nipaa for the negative shipaanipaa for complete uncertainty. Articles and demonstratives. Kiitra has no indefinite article, and its definite article suffix id’- is restricted to things which are unique (e.g., id’hiirha = the Universe). The demonstrative prefix eja’- is heavily used, and may mean "this", "that", "these" or "those" depending upon whether the root noun is singular or plural, and whether it is follow by ega (here) or efa (there). Other Alplai languages. Merrill also includes fragments of other Alplai languages (Baija, Konarai, Krishkarha and Saakh), both in the novel and the website. [4] There are also examples of a global "Alplai Sign Language" ( heijajna ), used by the Alplai deaf community. [5] Alplai’s alien culture and Kiitra. Emphasizing the alien culture of the Alplai, Merrill constructed some distinct idioms in Kiitra: davna baaj, murkhtosh taaj = "storm above, maelstrom below"; a dilemma, equivalent to "between a rock and a hard place". egiirh okh bada beil eja’farg = "only one leaf on that tree"; insignificant contribution, equivalent to saying "only a drop in the bucket". lobel frem gopshii aira = "to repair the door between them"; indicating reconciliation, similar to "mending fences". Kiitra also includes distinct words to describe such elements of Alplai society and culture as political parties ( gajanaat , diirdeznaat , belugaat , etc.) and religions ( Shalranai , Sadroshai , etc.) Counting in Kiitra. Kiitra is one of the six major indigenous languages of the planet Alplaa, used throughout its solar system as a universal auxiliary language, in the fictional world of Lamikorda , a science-fiction novel written by D. R. Merrill. Kiitra has its own alphabet named hirmekei , which is highly phonetic. Kiitra numbers list. 1 – okh 2 – dof 3 – dol 4 – got 5 – ponk 6 – zot 7 – sipot 8 – ozat 9 – nof 10 – taz 11 – taz’n’okh 12 – taz’n’dof 13 – taz’n’dol 14 – taz’n’got 15 – taz’n’ponk 16 – taz’n’zot 17 – taz’n’sipot 18 – taz’n’ozat 19 – taz’n’nof 20 – dof’taz 30 – dol’taz 40 – gotaz 50 – ponk’taz 60 – zotaz 70 – sipotaz 80 – ozataz 90 – nof’taz 100 – shot 1,000 – mot one million – haalmot one billion – jermot one trillion – mormot. Kiitra numbering rules. Now that you’ve had a gist of the most useful numbers, let’s move to the writing rules for the tens, the compound numbers, and why not the hundreds, the thousands and beyond (if possible). Digits from zero to nine are specific words: jon [0], okh [1], dof [2], dol [3], got [4], ponk [5], zot [6], sipot [7], ozat [8], and nof [9]. The tens are formed by prefixing the word for ten ( taz ) by its multiplier linked with an apostrophe (a glottal stop) if the multiplier does not end in t , else that t drops, with the exception of ten itself: taz [10], dof’taz [20], dol’taz [30], gotaz [40], ponk’taz [50], zotaz [60], sipotaz [70], ozataz [80], and nof’taz [90]. Compound numbers are formed by saying the ten, then the digit separated with the letter n (for en , and) surrounded by apostrophes (e.g.: gotaz’n’dol [43], sipotaz’n’dof [72], ozataz’n’got [84]). Hundreds are formed by setting the multiplier unit before the word for hundred ( shot ), linked with an apostrophe (a glottal stop), with the exception of one hundred itself: shot [100], dof’shot [200], dol’shot [300], got’shot [400], ponk’shot [500], zot’shot [600], sipot’shot [700], ozat’shot [800], and nof’shot [900]. Thousands are formed by setting the multiplier unit before the word for thousand ( mot ), linked with an apostrophe (a glottal stop), with the exception of one thousand itself: mot [1,000], dof’mot [2,000], dol’mot [3,000], got’mot [4,000], ponk’mot [5,000], zot’mot [6,000], sipot’mot [7,000], ozat’mot [8,000], and nof’mot [9,000]. Big compound numbers are formed by linking each group of three numbers with an apostrophe, or glottal stop (e.g.: ponk’shot’dof’mot’dol’shot’sipotaz’n’got [502,374]). Kiitra uses the short scale to express large numbers: each scale number greater than a million is a thousand times greater than its predecessor, like in English. Thus, we get haalmot (one million, 10 6 ), jermot (one billion, 10 9 ), and mormot (one trillion, 10 12 ). Write a number in full in Kiitra. Let’s move now to the practice of the numbering rules in Kiitra. Will you guess how to write a number in full? Enter a number and try to write it down in your head, or maybe on a piece of paper, before displaying the result. Religions on Alplaa. In ancient times, the various Alplai cultures incorporated animistic and polytheistic religious beliefs. Over time, as societies changed and came into contact with one another, new belief-systems emerged. Ajamara devotion. The ancestors of the Konarai were divided into tribal groups, often in conflict with one another. Among them, many women became itinerant healers, traveling from one village to another, healing the sick and sharing news of the outside world. Ajamara was one such healer who loved a handsome prince. When the prince became sick with a deadly illness, she traveled the land to gather one thousand parasha blossoms for making a curative. During her travels, she shared her compassion and wisdom with people in the villages she visited. By the time she had enough blossoms to cure the prince, it was too late; his malady had taken its toll, and he died in her arms. Ajamara then traveled to Agashagrapraja, the furthest eastern point of the land, and knelt at cliff’s edge to sing in mourning until her life came to and end. But her song and the strength of her love were so powerful, she inspired the spirits around her to sustain her with their energy, until she herself was transformed into the eternal spirit of love, to indwell every person. To this day, Konarai devotion to Ajamara permeates their culture and ethos. Each village has a narrative of the time when she was said to have visited long ago, even the bajakanara far to the south, and the Konarai settlers on the planet Totrana. Prayers to Ajamara are sung constantly – welcoming a newly hatched infant or a visitor to one’s village, praising the dawn or beseeching her intervention with other spirits, and so forth. Even those Konarai who abandon their traditional agrarian life for more modern ways still revere Ajamara and strive to live in accord with her example and spirit. Shalranai beliefs. The ancient Saakh religion reflected the social hierarchy of their empire, with the nobility focusing devotion on a ruling sky god ( Zeiraakh ), and the peasantry on a fertility earth goddess ( Eshaar ), along with lesser deities and spirits. This was the milieu in which Shalaran was raised, first as a peasant in childhood, then joining the imperial army in his youth, retiring after years of service with a small estate and a pension. It was during his time as a freeholder ( ojadei ) that he began a life of spiritual contemplation, and gathered disciples around him. As more students gathered at his home, he would send them out in groups of seven to form new monastic communities elsewhere. After his death, narratives of his life and teachings were compiled into a book, called the drokshnei , which became instrumental in spreading his ideas among ordinary people. Shalaran taught that the various deities and spirits portrayed in the world’s religions were in fact imperfect representations of a much larger reality, which he called the strhaan – “that which is ( saan ), was ( taan ) and will become ( rhaan ) within you and around you.” He emphasized simplifying one’s life to avoid distractions and find a deeper connection to the strhaan , later known by the Kiitra term id’ekaaverkzonra , meaning “the Great Becoming”. While millions follow the Shalranai way as ordinary people, the monastic eshnai live communally to devote themselves to more intense study, meditation, and service; these monastic communities also welcome guests, from those in need of temporary shelter to laity in spiritual retreats for reflective contemplation and guidance. The focus on quietism and tolerance in Shalranai teachings is thought to be one of the major influences leading to the Alplai’s abandoning warfare as a means to settle differences. Totranai philosophy. The Kiitra also embraced a polytheistic system, led jointly by a god of sun and fire ( Piirash ), and a goddess of sea and water ( Murai ). At roughly the same time that Shalaran lived, Totran grew to become perhaps the greatest of Alplaa’s scientists. His observations and theories were the Alplai parallel to those of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, and Newton; his private writings would later inspire others to more advanced scientific discoveries. Totran also developed an ethical worldview that did not depend upon belief in any form of supernatural. He professed a staunch agnosticism, stating that he found no evidence in spirits or gods, but that actions motivated by compassion and reason made the world better for everyone. His philosophy would be quietly adopted by educated people, first in his Kiitra homeland, and then among others across the planet. Totranai beliefs also posited a new theory of government, based on the idea that social rules and customs were based on mutual agreement (similar to the ideas of Epicurus, John Locke and other “social contract” theorists on Earth); these were regarded as a foundational idea to Conversionist political philosophy, leading to the establishment of democratic government and the global Concordance of Alplaa. Sadroshai religious teachings. Ancient Baija religious beliefs and practices centered on divination from a large number of spirits, usually through women who served as oracles for clan chiefs. The devastating wars between the Bashra and Baalti moieties, and the eventual conquest and occupation by the Saakh and Kiitra, disrupted Baija culture and spirituality, with many embracing the religions of their conquerors. As Shalranai and Totranai beliefs began to displace these systems, the desire for Baija independence was coupled with a collective spiritual crisis. Into this setting emerged Sadarosh, who preached a message which appealed to both religious and nationalistic sentiments. He taught that the universe was created by four elemental gods – earth/land ( Isri ), water/sea ( Moluu ), fire/sun ( Belje ), air/sky ( Shava ). While these gods were sometimes in conflict with one another, those who showed proper devotion to them would gain their favor. Since the Saakh had worshipped the earth/land and air/sky gods, and the Kiitra those of fire/sun and water/sea, they were allowed to share dominion over the world. Now that they had abandoned those gods, if the Baija showed proper devotion to all four, they would not only gain their freedom, but global dominion. Sadarosh would develop a sophisticated ritual and moral code, and gather a large following as he traveled across the Baija lands. Eventually the Sadroshai religion would become predominant among the Baija, adapting over time to the pluralism of the modern Alplaa. Sadroshai temples are square, with the corners oriented at the four major compass points, and an entrance on each side; the Great Temples of Paalshera and Paaltulra are the largest and most elaborately decorated, and serve as the respective starting and end points for a pilgrimage rite whereby believers walk the path taken by the prophet. Each temple corner is a miniature shrine to one of the gods, separated by a curtain, and each entrance is for a different purpose: Southwest door is the “gathering way” – regular believers enter and exit for worship. West corner is the shrine to Shava – separated by a light-blue curtain, with a bowl containing a feather. Northwest door is the “learning way” – adolescents and non-initiated adults enter to first learn of the Sadroshai faith; prospective beshoke (recognized teachers) also enter through here at the start of their confirmation rite. North corner is the shrine to Belje – separated by an orange curtain with a bowl containing a large burning candle. Northeast door is the “penitent way” – transgressors must leave the temple from here after being disciplined, and may only re-enter through here once they have repented and made amends. East corner is the shrine to Isri – separated by a dark gray curtain with a bowl containing stones. Southeast door is the “teaching way” – reserved for beshoke who lead temple services; in the rite of confirming a new beshoke , the candidate enters through the northwest “learning way” and exits through the teaching way. South corner is the shrine to Moluu – separated by a light-green curtain with a bowl containing water. Murai devotion. As the Aplai began to colonize their Great Sea and vast oceans on floating cities, many settlers did not feel that the existing religious and philosophical systems met their needs or answered their questions. From this spiritual hunger grew a revived devotion to the Kiitra sea goddess Murai, who was now seen as the “Mother of All Life,” and from local gatherings of Murai devotees emerged a widespread movement. This new religion, while initially viewed with suspicion and hostility by some, grew rapidly and soon became an accepted part of life in these new aquatic settlements. Murai devotees are organized in local congregations, led by lay elders. Members are often identified by their wearing the siledraavshna – a pendant resembling the dolphinlike sileduur , revered as living symbols of Murai. Their ethic upholds compassion and respect for diversity, rooted in the understanding that all life has a common origin in the seas. Many devotees of Murai, mindful of their history as a persecuted minority, are active in defending equality and freedom for others, including the Terai newcomers to their solar system. Terai religions. While religious fundamentalists remained behind on their homeworld, convinced the asteroid collisions were some long-awaited apocalypse, those Terai who left to settle in the Alplai solar system represented many traditions and philosophies. Some would face a spiritual crisis in their new home, even embracing Alplai religions. Whether they would develop new systems of religious belief, ritual, and community – either alone or in consort with their Alplai neighbors – would take the passing of years, if not generations.